Do You Think Your Health Would Be Different If You Lived in Another Country?

@cwright17 Hi,

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and experiences so openly. It sounds like you’ve faced a lot of challenges, yet you’ve really thought deeply about what helps you manage day-to-day, both with your health and your environment. 🌦️

Your perspective on healthcare is so important.

• What changes would you most like to see in the UK healthcare system to better support patients like you?
• How do you stay hopeful or motivated while navigating these challenges?
• Are there any small victories or moments of joy that have helped you stay positive despite the difficulties?

It’s inspiring to see your resilience and the care you take in managing both your health and your life. Your story is one many in our community can relate to, and I’m sure it will resonate with others here. 💛

Take care,
Somya from the Carenity Team 🌷

@Somya.P Hi Somya 👋

- I'd like for more GPs to broaden their knowledge. A couple of examples:

My 1st GP wouldn't understand why I visited him, asking to be referred to a neurologist after having simple partial temporal lobe seizures during my sleep where they'd wake me up with deja vous. It took me having a bad day where I had at least 4, in Feb 2014. I had one in the morning as I woke up, I had one as a triage nurse was doing a pupil reaction test (mum had taken to to a Minor Injuries unit at the hospital in our town), one as we got outside the grounds of a hospital that has a medical assessment unit, and one in the waiting room before we got seen by a Dr. That's when I got my referral. I had an evoked potential test, then an MRI, and then a hospital stay after I finished my end of year exams. I had a lumbar puncture, and was started on lamotrigine. I went back to my GP for a repeat prescription, and his face went white, realising I was right the whole time. A few months later, I got a diagnosis of CIS MS. Started university a couple if weeks after. In 2015, I had a bout of vertigo, and I somehow managed to safely get myself to my university GPs. They didn't really look into my past medical history, and told me that I had a euscation tube blockage. It took for the left side of my face to not feel anything for me to call my MS nurses, who managed to get me seen by the neurologist quickly. He did a pinprick test, then an MRI, and I got my clinically definite diagnosis, along with copaxone, a yellow bucket, and an autoinjecter. I was moved from that onto ocrevus 6 years later.

I stay hopeful by knowing that I can battle against injustices for disabled people. For example, The Mirror (newspaper) has called me to ask about the challenges disabled people face, especially those who use wheelchairs. They're writing an article now, and I'm going to be told when it's in the paper.

A couple of small victories of mine: I met my now-husband in 2015, a couple of months before I got my clinically definite diagnosis. We bought a house in 2019. He stayed wirh me when my legs stopped working properly and I had to stop working. He stayed when I started having generalised seizures, and even during my 27 day stay in hospital. We got married in 2023, and we're still looking forward to the future.

I hope this helps 😅